McAuliffe Vetoes ‘Tebow Bill’ for Third Time

Really, Governor? Vetoed again?

On Monday Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe again vetoed — for the third year in a row — Delegate Rob Bell’s “Tebow Bill” that would allow homeschooled students accessibility to public high school sports.

The governor has, it would appear, capitulated once again to the high school sports league and teachers’ union even though homeschool parents pay every tax dollar as parents with public school students.

Florida has had its own version of the Tebow Bill for over 20 years … 29 states in all allow access to their sports programs for homeschooled students.

This was the twelfth year Bell carried the bill to the General Assembly, and in 2015, 2016, and 2017, it passed both the House and the Senate only to be shot down by McAuliffe.

So Rob Bell can fold up shop for another year, and Virginia homeschoolers can only hope he is willing to carry the bill yet a thirteenth time. There’s an election before next year, and McAuliffe will no longer be sitting in the governor’s office.

Transcript: 2016 State of the Commonwealth address

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Governor Terry McAuliffe’s remarks from the State of the Commonwealth address at the Capitol in Richmond:

Lieutenant Governor Northam, Attorney General Herring, Speaker Howell, Leader Norment, men and women of the General Assembly, distinguished guests, citizens of Virginia – thank you for inviting me to be with you tonight.

A special thanks to my wife, Dorothy, for all that she is doing for Virginia’s children and their families.

I also ask that we all take a moment to thank the 575 brave Virginians in the National Guard who are away from their families this evening, deployed in the UAE, Cuba, Kuwait and elsewhere to keep us all safe.

The head of our Guard is here tonight. Thank you, Major General Tim Williams.

And finally, I welcome the new members of the General Assembly as you begin your first legislative session. I look forward to working with all of you.

Governor McAuliffe announces guests for tonight’s State of the Commonwealth Address

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The governor’s office has announced the names of special guests who have been invited to join Governor and Mrs. Terry McAuliffe for tonight’s State of the Commonwealth address. Seated in the gallery with First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe will be the following notable citizens:

Vanessa Christie, Vice President of Prevailance, U.S. Navy combat veteran: Vanessa Christie is a U.S. Navy combat veteran who spent the majority of her active duty time flying and instructing in the F-14 Tomcat.  Her company has historically provided engineering and flight services to the Pentagon and NATO, but it is now moving into international markets. In the first year of participation in the VALET program, Vanessa has joined trade missions to the UK, Canada and Mexico, and she has six return business trips scheduled to these international markets this year.  This is a defense contractor who is diversifying and creating jobs for Virginians.

 James DeLoach, student from Goochland County: James DeLoach is an 8^th grader in Goochland County who is already a skilled coder and has even designed an award-winning app.

Double murderer Jens Soering seeking release to Germany

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Murderer Jens Soering is back in the news. Thankfully, Delegate Rob Bell (R-58th House District) is alerting Virginians of the latest about this heinous case:

This week the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Governor McAuliffe is reviewing a request by murderer Jens Soering for early release.

Soering and his girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom were U.Va. students who in 1985 decided to murder her parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom.  To create an alibi, they bought two tickets to a movie and kept the stubs.  Soering then drove a rental car down to Bedford.  He ate dinner with the Haysoms, then stabbed Mr. Haysom 36 times and Mrs. Haysom 8 times, killing them both.

It was only extraordinary police work by Bedford Deputy Ricky Gardner that broke the case.  Gardner checked the rental car odometer, which showed the distance from Washington D.C. to Bedford.  When Gardner asked Soering for a blood sample, Soering stalled, and then fled the country with Elizabeth.  They obtained false papers and went on an international crime spree, traveling to Yugoslavia, Bangkok, and Moscow, before finally being arrested in England for check fraud.

McDonnell case: ‘Feds decide what constitutes quid pro quo’

[Originally published as a letter to the editor on July 25, 2015, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.]

Editor.

Congratulations to Governor McAuliffe on closing the Hardywood Brewery deal with a pot full of grants and tax incentives. After the earlier Stone Brewery deal, the squeaky wheel finally got some ”grease.” Most observers, myself included, might reckon this to be a good thing.

But let’s not forget. Bob McDonnell, our former elected governor, is about to go to jail over “quid pro quo.” Jonnie Williams, the ignoble courtier and Anatabloc salesman, is walking free, a receiver of such “official acts” as rubbing a few shoulders, a photo-op, and a dinner.

UCI Road World Championships to take place in Richmond September 19-27

By Lynn R. Mitchell

It has been the chatter of Richmond for several years as the city and surrounding areas prepared for a world-class cycling event. Now it’s only 51 days away.

For the first time in 30 years, the  nine-day Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Road World Championships cycling event will be held in the United States and, even better, it will take place in Richmond from September 19-27, 2015. Cyclists from around the world will converge on Virginia’s capital city for this annual competition that will feature the best cycling has to offer including 12 Championship races for Elite Men and Women.

As described on the website, “It is a rare opportunity for the athletes to compete for their country, just as they do during the Olympic Games. Athletes compete in three different disciplines including the traditional Road Race, the Individual Time Trial and the recently introduced Team Time Trial. World Champions are crowned in each discipline.”

Examining sanctuary city and immigrant crime issues

By Daniel P. Cortez

Four unarmed Marines and one sailor were brutally murdered recently in Tennessee. That hits home to this retired leatherneck and thousands of other Stafford citizens serving at Quantico or other nearby military bases.  Parents with children in service cringed hearing the tragic news that it was committed by a cowardly, demented American Muslim who spent seven months in Jordan and may have been radicalized.

And the Hispanic community remain outraged at the horrific crime committed by the undocumented Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez who admitted taking the life of Katherine Steinle in San Francisco.  Sanchez had been deported five times with seven felony convictions.

‘Tebow Bill’ fails to garner support to override governor’s veto

By Lynn R. Mitchell

For supporters of the homeschool sports access bill also known as the Tebow Bill, the news out of Richmond on Wednesday was not good. After Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed the bill, it was not able to gain the support needed to overcome the veto (see House sustains McAuliffe veto of Tebow Bill).

Back in the homeschool classroom: Did Terry McAuliffe understand the ‘Tebow Bill’ he vetoed?

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Virginia homeschoolers were disappointed when Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed the “Tebow Bill” — a homeschool sports access bill — after years of working to get its passage in the General Assembly.

Jeanne Faulconer, a homeschool mom who has educated her children at home for 17 years, wrote in Friday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch about the governor’s seeming lack of understanding everything around the bill. Her response to the governor (see Homeschoolers Are In (Reaction to Governor’s Veto of Homeschool Sports Access Bill):

Part 3: Commemoration of the Fall of Richmond … the Executive Mansion

By Lynn R. Mitchell

During the weekend of April 4, 2015 and the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the fall of Richmond during the Civil War, tourists were invited for a brief walk-through tour of Virginia’s Executive Mansion.

Terry, were you home? We stopped by to visit….

Terry McAuliffe kills homeshool friendly ‘Tebow Bill’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Sitting around the table before the start of last night’s Augusta County Library board meeting in Fishersville, I was talking about how much my family had used the public library during the 16 years we homeschooled our children. One of the trustees brought up the Tebow Bill that had passed the General Assembly, and said he had heard the governor was going to veto it.

This gentleman was not someone I expected to be in support of a homeschool bill so I braced myself for his comment.

“I don’t agree with the governor,” he said, much to my surprise, and he went on to add that homeschool families pay their taxes, are part of the community, and should be allowed athletic access to the schools. He was not the first from the community I had heard to voice those thoughts.

Virginia’s Outstanding Scientists and Governor’s Award for Science Innovation

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The governor’s office announced Virginia’s Outstanding Scientists of 2015 and the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Science innovation. Virginia’s Outstanding Scientists 2015 are Dr. Mikhail Noginov from Norfolk State University, Dr. Timothy Long from Virginia Tech, and Dr. Purusottam (Puru) Jena from Virginia Commonwealth University. Plugless, by Evatran, was chosen for the Governor’s Award for Science Innovation 2015. Bios are listed below. Winners will receive their awards on Thursday, April 2, at the Science Museum of Virginia.

Allen: ‘Terry McAuliffe stole the show at Gridiron Club dinner’

Governor Terry McAuliffe

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Politico’s Mike Allen highlighted Virginia’s the performance of Virginia’s governor at Saturday night’s Gridiron Club dinner in D.C. in his morning Playbook:

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe stole the show last night at the 130th Gridiron Club dinner – D.C.’s only white-tie-and-tails event, and one of the few big dinners that’s off-camera. The dinner, known for elaborate skits featuring top reporters, started as a gathering of the then-powerful newspaper bureaus, but over time added TV personalities.
…
“Good evening, everybody. I’m Terry McAuliffe, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Terry McAuliffe, the Governor of Virginia. Who saw that coming? … I see so many familiar faces. Vernon Jordan, Madeleine Albright, Donna Brazile, and Mike McCurry are here. The New York Times is trying to screw the Clintons every chance it gets. If the middle class were doing better, I’d swear it was the nineties. You all remember the middle class. Those are the people who walk by you to get to their seats further back in the plane.

Dear homeschoolers, please ask Governor to support ‘Tebow Bill’

Del. Rob Bell

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The heavy lifting has been done. Delegate Rob Bell has seen to that. All that is left is for homeschoolers to email Governor Terry McAuliffe to encourage him to sign HB 1626 — the “Tebow Bill” — to allow homeschoolers to participate in sports and other competitive events such as forensics and band.

From Delegate Rob Bell:

McAuliffe newest member of bipartisan Council of Governors

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Virginia’s Governor Terry McAuliffe became the latest member of the bipartisan Council of Governors made up of 10 governors who advise the White House and U.S. national security leadership on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

The governor noted his appreciation of being included in the group: